Thursday, May 23, 2013

From Ada Wiggens of the BHS Devil's Advocate:Over April vacation the Burlington High School band, accompanied by the dance squad and color guard, left to march in their biggest performance this year at Disney World.The group of over 100 people began their triennial trip to Orlando with a 4 a.m. flight out on Monday. The entire band traveled together, and on Tuesday, the troupe gave their only performance of the trip on the streets of The Magic Kingdom. They played, “Elephant’s Parade,” and other select pieces the band had decided were their best performances from past years.“It [the trip] has become a tradition,” said Mr. Lovell, the band director. “It’s a performance in front of a lot of people with a lot of kids in a very elite location. It is very safe, and you can let the kids run free in the park.”

Performing at Disney is a high honor, because not just any band who signs up can go. Of the many bands that have auditioned to go, only a select few have always been chosen and then been invited back every three years. Burlington holds this honor, and it is not taken lightly, as Mr. Lovell says the bands have, “really got to be up to a certain standard.” In order to live up to expectations, the group began practicing each of their pieces every Tuesday and Thursday leading up to their departure.

“We had to go to our Ides of March Concert,” said Edward Gelberg, senior drum major, “followed by the All-Time Band Concert, and once those were done, we went into Disney overdrive.”

After the performance was done, the band was free to enjoy the rest of their five days hanging out with friends at Disney World. Members could go to any of the four parks freely, only needing to check in with chaperones for designated meetings and at the end of the day. All in all, everybody loved the trip.

“The trip was absolutely amazing,” said freshman color guard member Courtney Brown, “[It was] The best five days of my life. I made some great new friends and memories to last a lifetime.”